


The Dragon's Curse

by EdinaSaunders



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-02
Updated: 2019-02-02
Packaged: 2019-10-20 19:37:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 957
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17628416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EdinaSaunders/pseuds/EdinaSaunders
Summary: The day of her birth, a witch put a curse on Maleficent. Anyone who fell in love with her was fated to die. She chose the heroes as prey, just to defeat them. But now she’s really falling in love and she does not want to hurt Regina.





	The Dragon's Curse

Maleficent's been aware of her curse her whole life. She was a villain because fate had made her into one. She’s destroyed hero after hero, simply because her curse allowed her to. There was no changing it, so she might as well use her curse to her advantage. It had never been hard to make those heroes fall in love with her. She could be charming, kind, or at least make them think that she was. But she was long past that now. She no longer wooed and deceived heroes. She no longer saw much of anyone at all. There was no point to it anymore. The feeling, the rush she got the first few times was gone. Her heart wasn’t in it.

And then came the day she met Regina. She was no hero, yet she wasn’t a villain either. She was an innocent, a victim of circumstance, much like herself. For the first time she felt the tug of real affection. She was drawn to her and that was not good. She tried to push the young woman away, to make her turn tail and run. She would not. So Mal let her in.

She was careful, though. She couldn’t have Regina get too close. It turns out that she was just what Maleficent needed to get her fire back. She made her feel something again, made her feel like she was truly alive. That’s why she had to let her go. She could see the heartbreak in Regina's eyes when she said goodbye to her. She had wanted Mal to tell her not to go, but she couldn’t. It wasn’t safe for her to stay.

When Regina came back to her, she’d changed. She’d let vengeance into her heart. It pained Mal to see that. She wanted to tell her to let her hate go, let love into her heart, but that would make her a hypocrite. True, she no longer harbored any hate, or much emotion at all, but she hadn't let Regina in when she’d had the chance. It was perhaps her only regret, but she knew it was for the best. She still had to remind herself of that when Regina came for the dark curse.

The next time, it was her that had come back to Regina. She hadn’t planned it. It had been Ursula and Cruella that had brought her back. And now she was facing Regina once more. It would have been easier for Mal if Regina still been the villain she once was, but now she reminded her more of the Regina she had first met all those years ago.

Maleficent still loved her. She finally admitted to herself that that’s what it was. Love. Why else would she have kept Regina away from her? She couldn’t let her fall victim to her curse. She couldn’t hurt her, but what she didn’t know was that every time they met and Mal pushed her away, Regina was hurting.

Their night out with Cruella and Ursula had led to a shift between them. Mal was beginning to let her in again and Regina wasn’t planning on letting her slip through her grasp this time.

"Mal," Regina said. Maleficent turned to look at her. Her eyes, they were the same as they had been the day Regina left her castle. She knew what was behind those eyes. The emotion. The sensation. She couldn’t let her say it. She had stopped her before and it had kept her safe. She’d do the same now.

"I have to leave, Regina," Mal said, grabbing her coat. If she just left, everything would be fine.

"No," Regina yelled. "You don’t get to walk away from me again." Her tone was harsh and it caused Maleficent to freeze. "I love you. I–"

Maleficent dropped her coat and ran to Regina. She had said it. Regina had begun to cough. This was how it always happened. As soon as they said the words, they died. It began with the cough, then they stopped breathing and collapsed. She shouldn’t have given her the chance to say it. Regina was the one person she’d ever wanted to protect and here she was, dying in her arms. Maleficent began to sob as she held Regina close and she watched her take her last breath through eyes glossed over with tears.

She was gone. Maleficent had killed her. She’d never felt so guilty. She could have told Regina about the curse a hundred times. She could have thrown her out of her castle immediately and lost herself under a veil of sleeping curses for the rest of her life. But she hadn’t done any of that and all of her decisions led her here; to the love of her life, lifeless in her arms.

Maleficent bent down to kiss Regina goodbye. She’d never allowed herself to kiss her before. Never allowed more than a brief touch, fearing for Regina's life if she ever let herself have more. She did not have to fear that now. She let her kiss linger for several seconds, hoping that if she just kissed her long enough, Regina would wake up and kiss her back. Finally Mal convinced herself to pull away. Regina still hung limp in her arms.

"I always loved you, Regina. Always." Again, the tears streamed down Maleficent's face.

"Why didn’t you tell me you were cursed?"

Maleficent thought she was hearing things. She blinked away her tears and looked down at Regina. Her eyes were open. She looked weak, but she was alive. Alive, but how? How had she survived the curse?

"True love's kiss can break any curse," Regina reminded, as if she had read Maleficent's mind. "Even a dragon's."

**Author's Note:**

> This is part of my 2019 Femslash February fics. If you like this, and want more for Regina/Maleficent, please leave me a request. 
> 
> https://archiveofourown.org/collections/Edina_Saunders_Prompt_Collection
> 
> Comments and Kudos appreciated.


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